E! News got hold of an exclusive clip from the movie's DVD bonus features (on sale Jan. 17), and producer Pat Crowley sharedwhat brought the 19-year-old to his attention.

"I remember hearing about Taylor's physical abilities, and someone said, 'Oh well go onto YouTube,' and there was something Taylor did when he was 11 years old..."

Crowley is referring to this video, which shows a young Lautner tricking at the 2003 World Series Martial Arts. It's pretty hard-core. Along with some Mortal Kombat-ish music in the background and Taylor's intense-yet-cute yelling, we see the then-preteen flip, kick and land in splits. That probably explains why he was the "best in the world."

"It comes in handy, it helps a lot with all the physical stuff," Taylor said. "But even more, it taught me a lot of things at a young age—discipline, hard work—nothing comes without hard work. But for the fight scenes and all that, I'm able to pull some moves out of the old extreme martial arts bag."